Salado senior guard Dane Hankamer earned KDHpressbox.com Player of the Week honors for his outstanding performance in the Eagles’ two wins last week.

“I think Dane really deserved this,” Salado head coach Kenny Mann said. “Dane played great last week. Of course, he plays great every week.”

Last week, Hankamer had 26 points and 19 rebounds in Salado’s district-title clinching win over Jarrell. Salado is 12-0 in District 22-2A action and 26-3 overall.

“This award means a lot to me,” said the 6-foot-3 Hankamer. “I’m just really thankful to everyone that voted for me. And I’m glad for my school. It shows that athletes at our 2-A school can compete in votes with kids that play for 5-A schools.”

Others nominated for Player of the Week honors last week were Ellison soccer star Alyssa Conde and basketball standouts Rashard Odomes of Copperas Cove and Brian Long of Killeen.

“It didn’t surprise me that Dane had a lot of supporters in this voting,” Mann said. “He’s a real good kid who treats people right.”

Hankamer is Salado’s team captain.

“Without Dane, none of the success we’ve enjoyed this season would have happened,” Mann said. “He’s done it all for us defensively and offensively, and he leads us on and off the court.”

And hoops isn’t even Hankamer’s best sport.

A scratch golfer, Hankamer is the defending 2-A state champion in golf.

Both Brown and Air Force offered Hankamer a golfing scholarship. He also was accepted in the University of Texas honors business program. He applied to Harvard and Princeton and, if accepted, Hankamer plans on playing golf for either school.

“I’ve always put academics first growing up,” Hankamer said. “I feel sports can only get you so far in life — especially for people like me, who are not planning on going pro.”

Hankamer does have some immediate plans: going far in the 2014 basketball postseason.

“Beating Jarrell last week was important for us,” he said. “But, to me, it’s just the beginning of the rest of our season. Now, we’re planning on making a long, deep run in the playoffs.”

Contact Allan Mandell at amandell@kdhnews.com or 254-501-7566​ and read his blog at KDHPressbox.com